Effects we tried in our music video

We tried a number of effects from Final Cut Express, including the dissolves, the opacities, the different effects and many more. We used about 4 or 5 different effects and transitions in our music video. Some of the effects we tried were - Slow Motion and Dissolves.

My Input

Overall filming and editing has been going really well for our group as we took on slightly separate roles. I took charge with Ellie on the first day of filming when we filmed the couple in the music video. We directed and did the camerawork together, whereas this was Jasmine's weaker point so she observed and we showed her how to work the cameras. However on the second day of filming I was not there so Ellie and Jasmine helped out each other and directed and filmed our singer Jess.

I found that the editing and lip syncing was my weakest point throughout the coursework, but this was Jasmine's strongest point so she took charge of this part whilst Ellie and I observed her, learnt how to edit and spoke our opinions on what should go where. However Ellie and I had a go at putting transitions and effects in our music video.

Problems and Issues

Problems and Issues we as a group overcame:

- At the beginning, our first chosen artist was confirmed to be untrustworthy after the first couple of weeks of planning. As a result of this, we as a group had to make a choice to email Gabrielle Aplin's manager, asking for permission to use her song as our second choice. Ultimately we didn't use our first artist as we got permission to use Gabrielle's song.

- The first filming day, Jasmine couldn't make it for the first couple of hours, so Ellie and I had to continue without her. Later on Jasmine finally joined us, and Ellie and I showed Jasmine what had been shot while she was not there.

- From the first day of filming, we noticed that we had changed our storyboard a bit as we filmed pointless parts, which didn't fit with the storyline told in the song. We overcame this by cutting the unnecessary parts out.

- The second filming day we had to film our artist's lip syncing. I couldn't be there at all during that day as I had family commitments and Ellie could only come for the last 2 hours of filming. This meant Jasmine had to control most of the filming. This was overcome because Jasmine knew exactly what was needed to film

- Since our group used a different camera, we had problems uploading our footage onto Final Cut Express. We managed to overcome this by getting help from our school technician.

Editing

Editing our music video is going really well, we have all been doing different parts of the editing. We have got a lot of footage of the couple's relationship and of the singer. All of our cutting of the different shots mirrors the beat to the song. Although we had a slight problem where in one of the shots of our singer Jess forgot one of the words of the song. However we overcame this by cutting that part of the clip.

Recce Shots

These are some images of the different locations based in the same area that we have used in our music video. The reason we used these places is because of the autumn season the location looked romantic.

Lip Syncing

Today my group and I have started learning and practising the lip syncing of our artist. We had time to practise on another clip of a music video that our teacher provided us with. In turn Jasmine, Ellie and I had a turn to learn how to do it. I found it a bit difficult to do, but got the hang of it in the end. Then we put a small clip of our footage onto a separate timeline on Final Cut Express t practice on. This also went well and we all managed to get the hang of it.

Editing

My group and I have finally started putting the footage and clips together and we have started editing our music video. Editing is one of my weaknesses but since Jasmine is good at it and knows how it works she will show me how to edit efficiently.

Footage

Today we have uploaded our second lot of filming onto the school computers.This footage is mainly of our artist Jess and her singing, but there are still some clips of our actor Bethany in it. This time the process was quicker because we knew how to upload to footage unlike last time. All the filming looks really good and we have a lot to work with, so it is very unlikely that we will need to do another day of filming.

Second Day of Filming

Jasmine and Ellie went to the same park yesterday and completed our second lot of filming that we needed to do. I could not make it as I had family commitments on that day, so they took charge and got it finalised. They showed me today though how the filming went and what they filmed. They filmed our artist Jess' singing for the lip syncing that we need to do, and a bit of one of our actors Bethany. The filming they have done looks really steady and well filmed. We will now get it uploaded tomorrow at school.

Footage

Today my group and I have just uploaded the first lot of footage up onto the Mac computers in school. This footage consists of only the couple we are using for the video and their romance, we will be doing our filming of our singer Jess this weekend. We had a bit of trouble at first because we used different cameras to the school's and we could not work out how to upload it. However we worked out that we had to upload it onto iMovie before putting it onto Final Cut Express, so we this problem was resolved.

First Day of Filming

I have just got back from our first day of filming. Ellie and I went up to a local park earlier and started the filming as Jasmine could not make it in the morning but joined us during the late afternoon. We have completed a solid couple of hours of filming and it looks really good as we have had a productive day. Ellie and I did most of the camera work, however when Jasmine joined us later on she had a go at directing and filming.

Filming Schedule

Day 1 of Filming: The first location we used was Hadley walkway/park and Ellie's house, Marriott road.
Date: Saturday midday 10/11/12

Day 2 of Filming: We will be using the same location as before because we want the artist to fit in with the narrative we've already gone by with our actors.
Date: Saturday midday 17/11/12

Shot List

Here is a brief plan of what we are planning on shooting in the upcoming weeks:

• low angle shots and mid shots of the couple messing around when walking through a park in the autumn
• high angle shots, wide shots and tracking shots of the couple kissing
• establishing shots of the Hadley walk way showing the autumnal setting
• close ups of their hands and faces as they are intimate
• wide shots of the couple moving around the park showing them in the autumn setting
• over the shoulder shots of both of the couple texting
• reaction shot showing the girl's facial expressions and emotions towards a text

Risk Assessment

Location	Possible risks to health and safety of you and the equipment	Avoidance strategies
Hadley walkway/park	-       The camera equipment may be in the way and someone could trip over it, hurting themselves, and damaging the camera and other equipment. -       This area can be especially dark at night, and as it is winter, it gets dark earlier, so it could get too dark for filming. -       People frequently walk past, as it is a public area, so they could get in the way of some shots. -       Outdoors is especially risky due to the weather being unpredictable. If it is raining the equipment could get wet, or if it is too windy the equipment could blow over and break.	-       Make sure that when the camera equipment is not in use, it is put to one side and not in the middle of the path or grass, in order to avoid accidents. -       Ensure that filming starts earlier so that it does not get dark when we film here. -       Make sure that no one is around when filming, avoiding people getting in the way of the camera. -       Assure that when we are filming outside, the weather is appropriate and dry, so that the equipment does not get damaged.
Ellie’s house on Marriott Road	-       There is a possible risk of people getting in the way of the camera and the filming, as Ellie has a little brother, and two pets.	-       Make sure they don’t get in the way by keeping the pets out of the room that we are filming in.

Storyboard

Establishing shot: we will start our music video with some establishing shots to show off the autumnal setting we are location the music video in.

Two shots: we will then be using a lot of two shots of a couple in love. They will be kissing, play fighting (to show its a young couple) and walking together.

Close up of phone: when the music changes to a much slower, sad pace the narrative of our music video will change as the male character will text the female character saying he loves her and she will panic and delete the text.

Single shots: we will then use single shots of the two characters alone looking sad. This will shot the potential split between the two.

Shots of the artist singing: Throughout this music video we will use various shots (e.g. long shots, close ups, low angle shots) of the artist singing the song in the same locations our narrative is being shot. This shows the artist tell the story between the couple and also shows her own personal feelings through facial expressions which indicates a possible link to a situation she may have experienced herself.

Reunited: Once the music goes back to its original pace, we will show shots of the couple reuniting and showing the love and affection once again.

Reunited: By making our characters reunite not only follows the songs narrative about the girl still having strong feelings for the boy but just to ready to say the words 'i love you' but also give our music video and romantic fantasy like story by it having a 'happily ever after' ending.